The Legal 500

Within Capital markets: debt offerings, Faegre Baker Daniels is a third tier firm,

‘Excellent on all accounts’, Faegre & Benson LLP continues to focus on issuer clients. The Minneapolis-based capital markets group had an active year across debt work, and advised key client Wells Fargo & Company in 41 public debt offerings. This included assisting the bank in a $1.25bn public offering of fixed rate notes, the establishment of a $25bn EMTN program and a $25bn structured MTN program, and 15 public offerings of structured notes linked to exchange-traded funds. The firm also represented Target Corporation regarding a $1bn fixed rate notes public offering, and financial services company Ameriprise Financial in connection with a $750m public offering of senior fixed-rate notes. Longstanding clients for the group include Archer-Daniels-Midland Company and Bemis Company. The ‘very efficient’ Sonia Shewchuk provides ‘prompt responses and useful advice’, and has notable experience in structured notes offerings. James Nicholson does an ‘outstanding job’.

Within Capital markets: equity offerings, Faegre Baker Daniels is a third tier firm,

Faegre & Benson LLP is traditionally known for its issuer practice in the Midwest region, and has an excellent track record and an impressive client roster to match. The recommended Jonathan Zimmerman is extremely active in the area, and in April 2010 advised SPS Commerce in its $56m offering of common stock. Zimmerman, together with Morgan Burns, whom clients ‘can’t speak highly enough of’, also represented Northern Oil and Gas in its $86.25m common stock offering. The firm’s reputation on the manager-side continues to grow, recently representing Piper Jaffray, Wells Fargo Securities, Robert W Baird & Co and Stifel Nicolaus Weisel in connection with the $58.9m IPO of Gordmans Stores. Jason Day provides key support in the Denver office, and together with David Miller in Minneapolis advised Piper Jaffray, William Blair & Company and ThinkEquity as underwriters of the $27.6m IPO of GenMark Diagnostics. The firm is rated for offering ‘good value for money’.

Within M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m), Faegre Baker Daniels is a third tier firm,

At Minnesota-based law firm Faegre & Benson LLP, its reputation in complex middle market deals is spreading beyond its geographic borders, with its private equity and strategic M&A deal load continuing to improve. The firm has ‘top notch expertise and service. All of the attorneys have excellent credentials; they are proactive, knowledgeable and good negotiators. They are also somewhat less expensive than comparable attorneys at other large firms’. 3M was represented in the complex cross-border $230m acquisition of Attenti Holdings, an Israeli-based manufacturer of people-tracking systems. The firm also advised 3M in its $810m acquisition of Arizant Holdings, a medical device company. This was the largest acquisition completed by the firm in 2010 and was one of 3M’s largest acquisitions in recent history. The firm also advised publicly traded software company PLATO Learning in its sale to Thoma Bravo Partners for $143m. Health Grades, a leading independent healthcare ratings organization, was assisted in its $294m sale to private equity firm Vestar Capital Partners. This deal marked one of the most significant public company M&A transactions completed in the Rocky Mountain region in 2010. One private equity highlight included acting for private equity sponsor Norwest Equity Partners in its investment in Gopher Resource, a technologically-advanced secondary lead processor that recycles lead-acid batteries and other lead bearing materials, with a majority of the refined lead being used in automotive and industrial batteries. Other active key clients include General Mills, UnitedHealth Group, Goldner Hawn, PLATO Learning and Target Corporation. Minneapolis-based Bruce Engler is the head of M&A. Also in Minneapolis, Jonathan Nygren was named partner in 2010.

Within Construction (including construction litigation), Faegre Baker Daniels is a third tier firm,

The construction law group at Faegre & Benson LLP in Minneapolis has lawyers with ‘unique skill-sets’ dedicated to representing owners, contractors, subcontractors, product suppliers and sureties. The 26-strong team delivers ‘very appropriate advice’, and is ‘very good value for money’. It is active in national instructions while also handling a substantial number of projects overseas. The team is active throughout the Midwest region, and recently represented a major US utility company in a multimillion-dollar case in Colorado arising from the construction of a power plant. Transactional highlights included advising on construction law issues and negotiating contracts relating to the CapX2020 $1.6bn power line project, involving several hundred miles of high-voltage power lines to run from North Dakota and South Dakota across Minnesota and into Wisconsin; the firm is advising the 11 utilities which own the project. William Joyce leads the construction practice and is highly regarded by both peers and clients. Other names to note are Timothy O Brien, Patrick O’Connor, and former practice head Peter Halls. Bernard Nodzon was made a partner in 2010; he is part of the business litigation group and focuses on construction, real estate and eminent domain litigation.

Within Real estate, tier 4

Scott Anderegg chairs the real estate practice at Faegre & Benson LLP. The team includes 12 partners who are located in Minneapolis, Denver, Boulder and Des Moines. John Wheaton and Paul Moe represented Cargill in the formation of a joint venture for the purpose of financing and developing a $190m cane sugar refinery in Louisiana. Peter Berrie and John Herman advised a not-for-profit developer on its renovation of a historic theater in Minneapolis; the $40m project was financed with new markets tax credits, community development block grant (CDBG) funds and bond financing using a sale-and-leaseback structure. Anderegg represented US Bancorp on its $328m acquisition of 353 owned and leased retail bank branches in Arizona, California, Illinois and Texas from FDIC, and advised the same client on leasing two eight-story office buildings in Minnesota. Other clients include Allina Hospitals & Clinics, Piper Jaffray and Life Time Fitness.